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As the old adage goes, ‘time is money’ and that applies buyers and sellers in the computer age in which we live. Everyone relies on the Internet for information and it’s unfortunate that some online Charlotte real estate information can be misleading. For buyers, the vast amount of time one has to spend house hunting to find the home that you love, you don’t want or need to waste any of it on properties that aren’t what they seem.

Beware of the following inaccuracies when Charlotte house hunting online:

History hiccups – Check with an agent to find out how long a house has truly been on the market. If a seller has switched agencies or removed the property from the market for a period of time, the house could appear to be newly listed based on its official number of days on market.

Misleading descriptions – When you visit a property, double-check that which attracted you to it online is portrayed accurately. Ensure that a “fully finished basement” isn’t just concrete floors and drywall or that the “spacious backyard” isn’t as narrow as a dog run.

Errors – It’s impossible for nationwide real estate websites to manage and fact check all of the information posted to their pages, so inaccuracies often happen — such as wrong price points or incorrect home descriptions. Follow up with a Charlotte real estate agent, if you’re seriously interested.

Out-of-date information – Agents market many homes at once, and while they might reprint fliers for an open house or relay current information to inquiring buyers, they could completely forget to update the online information.

Old listings – Be careful about spending time on a wild goose chase. Properties that have already sold are often still listed online. While this may be an intentional ploy to get you to call an agency, most agents are just too busy and forget. As well, some agents and national aggregating sites don’t update their listings as often as updates are available. Your search on www.iCharlotteRealEstate.com is updated hourly, if not every 15 minutes. You have up-to-date listings available there to you so as not to waste your time.

The Internet has made searching for homes and gathering house-hunting information much easier. Just be skeptical, see a home in person, and thoroughly research the history and neighborhood before making an offer on Charlotte real estate.

If you’re interested in purchasing a home, let me do the time-consuming house hunting for you. Call me at (704) 491-3310 today or email me at Broker@TheCharlotteScoop.com for more information.